And the Fincannon:

Here's the Chesnee Plan:

Hi, there! I, too, have these two plans on my list of possibilities and have been studying them both for some time.

I prefer the Chesnee for the following reasons: 1. I dislike the guest br arrangement in the Ficannon, in particular, the J&J bath. Like the hall bath in the Chesnee. 2. Don't like the hearth/brkfst/kitchen layout of the Ficannon, as I have jumped on the single eating area bandwagon, as illustrated in the Chesnee. The dining area combined with the seating at the long island is sufficient. 3. I like the outdoor porch spaces much better on the Chesnee. They have much more usable space. 4. Like the kitchen and its window on an outside wall on the Chesnee. 5. The utility room, mudroom, and pantry in the Chesnee is much superior to that in the Ficannon.

I agree with you about eliminating the sitting area on the mbr space. That would bring the square footage down another 100 ft.

If your children are not of nursery age I'd pick Fincannon. I would reverse the stairs (enter by the bedrooms and hearthroom.). I would also change the Jack and Jill to a common area bathroom. Add a hall entry door (pocket door to make it more private. This with the changes would fit MY family perfectly but, you need to share with us more about your needs/family.

There are alot of fireplaces $$ and Don Gardner plans seem to be pricey to build. I'd sooner eliminate the dining room than the hearthroom and use it as dining as the light will be fantastic there.

For my I prefer the Chesnee - we have two children so it would fit my family. That being said, I would turn the bedroom in the top right into an ensuite for your daughter as unless you have guests then she should be the one who benefits from it.
A word of caution, a LOT of folks have experienced high building costs from Don Gardner plans.

I appreciate the feedback so much!

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we intend to nix finishing out the bonus room but add an unfinished basement (to be completed in time). My husband and his family build homes and my husband is a project manager so what he/family does not complete, we will contract out the people he knows so that will decrease some cost. We live in Kentucky and this home will be on a one acre lot, so we should be fine with proportions. Building cost in this area are $75-100 per sq ft when self contracting the house construction.

We do currently only have a 2 year old but would like to have 3 kids so we're trying to plan for the future. We also have family that come stay with us often so we need guest quarters. When the basement is finished, I would like to put the guest room there but could use the study for that purpose in the meantime.

I think we are leaning towards the Chesnee but are open to any ideas regarding how to decrease sq footage (other than eliminating the sitting room)without changing the overall floorplan. Also wondering about the lack of linen closets and if you see good places to put those. Thanks!!

Re: linen closets:
Turn the "storage" area in the garage to the hall side of the house for a reach in closet.
In the Master bath, there can be a linen tower to the left of the left vanity.

Will you have a basement? You can use under the stairs as additional storage/closet space as well.

I'm not a fan of the kitchen in the Chesnee, but there is a lot of room there. Just take the dimensions to the kitchen forum and get feedback on a proper, safer, better utilized kitchen space there.

Hello. I will be building the Chesnee house plan. I agree to remove the sitting area from the Master BR, not sure it adds any value. I found a few pictures of finished houses for the Birchwood model on Don Gardner's website. This will give you an idea of what it will look like finished. There is one being built in Hendersonville, NC. I will be going to see it this Friday. Did you decide to build the Chesnee, and if so, is it under construction now. I'd be curious to see know how it's going.

JDMoore can you give me details of where the home was built in Hendersonville, NC? My husband and I are looking to build this plan and would love to go see this home. Did you see it?

I love both of these plans, the Fincannon for the hearth room and the Chesnee for the kitchen with windows. Unfortunately, my husband hates them both, but has agreed to walk them if ican find themnanywhere in the SE within 500 miles of Jacksonville FL. PLEASE respond to me if you have one of these plans being built or that is already built that we could tour. Much appreciated!!!

I love the Chesnee plan for a young family. Here's why-

1) The bedroom/ study that is adjacent to the foyer can be built to be walled off from the foyer and used as a nursery for the second baby. In both plans, using the split places parents and small children on the opposite side of the house. Doable with monitors but not optimal for late night treks through the home.

2) That sitting area can become a lovely study with access to nature and the backyard, instead of a pretentious showplace room up front. You would not necessarily have to have all your papers off your desk when company came over... and could read back there in your pj's when your spouse is entertaining friends in the public areas. I love that sitting area as a retreat!

3) The lines of sight and outdoor space are awesome and promise a young family the ability to supervise the heirs from the comfort of their domicile.

It is a wonderful family home. When the front bedroom no longer is needed for little ones, it will become a great guest bedroom.

I love the Chesnee plan for a young family. Here's why-

1) The bedroom/ study that is adjacent to the foyer can be built to be walled off from the foyer and used as a nursery for the second baby. In both plans, using the split places parents and small children on the opposite side of the house. Doable with monitors but not optimal for late night treks through the home.

2) That sitting area can become a lovely study with access to nature and the backyard, instead of a pretentious showplace room up front. You would not necessarily have to have all your papers off your desk when company came over... and could read back there in your pj's when your spouse is entertaining friends in the public areas. I love that sitting area as a retreat!

3) The lines of sight and outdoor space are awesome and promise a young family the ability to supervise the heirs from the comfort of their domicile.

It is a wonderful family home. When the front bedroom no longer is needed for little ones, it will become a great guest bedroom.

Hi BuildingSoon1 , which house plan did you decide to go with? We are leaning Fincannon ourselves, but will rearrange the J&J back into a hall bath. btw Houseofsticks we are trying to reverse stairs to enter from hearth room, but are struggling with the 2nd floor. the entry to bonus room is looking awkward.

My wife and I are looking to build the Chesnee as well. If anyone has built this and is willing to talk to us about it please email me at scsauder@gmail.com or call me at 419-612-5185. Thanks!

We are building the Chesnee! We just got our plans back today. We love the kitchen, that there isn't a formal dining room and the our door space. We are using the sitting room as an art room for my husband. If he didn't want it as an art room I would remove it. The back of our home will face a huge lake and mountains. We also flipped the plan. I only wish the master bath was laid out different and a little bigger. It lacks enough linen closet space and counter top space. We are currently looking at changing the master bath layout.

You can follow us building it at: https://www.facebook.com/BuildingOurNewHomeTheChesnee/

Hey there - I tried to follow your page, but FB says it’s not there. We are getting ready to build the Chesnee as well and I’m interested to watch your progress!

I was following them on facebook and I believe they decided to build a different home.

My wife and I are also planning on building the Chesnee. I would love to take to you about it. Email me or text me at

resurrecting this tread, would love to hear from anyone who built this home...we are looking at the Chesnee as well, considering a few changes overall: In the master bath we will change the layout, also will make larger walk in closet longer and will use smaller walk in for a sauna. We are converting the 2 rooms at the back of the right side to an oversized gameroom/office/gym (removing closets between them). Since it's just the 2 of us, we can do this easily for the best use of the space and best views of the lake, this would be a space we would be in a lot. I also will not have the second island/bar on the outside of the kitchen, so will extend side cabinets on the left side of the kitchen equal to where that bar was and instead will have a larger square shaped island (as big as I can get that will fit the space properly). Also want to make the pantry larger and convert E space to a butlers pantry facing the dining room. Garage storage turns into inside linen cabinet. perfect since it's right by the laundry room. We want the bonus room to be above the back 2 bedroom areas facing the back instead of over the garage.

I’m obviously very late finding this thread, but we did build the Chesnee plan and would be happy to share pictures, etc. email me at gayelynncox@yahoo.com